grant: some of the most memorable events oftenoccur when they're least expected. this played out for matt and i recently afterwe climbed into a redneck blind overlooking the crabapple food plot. grant: (whispering) matt and i are in a redneckblind in crabapple field. this is the same spot where adam tagged adoe a couple weeks ago. we’ve got a strong southeast wind and deerhave really been using the eagle seed broadside. so, i suspect we’re gonna see some deertonight; hopefully get some deer in range. grant: that afternoon was unseasonably warmand we were hoping to fill a doe tag. the size of our dreams quickly changed asi recognized the antlers coming out the far
side of the field. grant: (whispering) look, really good deercoming out up there. that’s a good deer. hey, that’s handy. that’s handy. matt: (whispering) yeah. yeah. grant: (whispering) that’s handy. that’s definitely handy.
matt: (whispering) that’s a mature buck. grant: (whispering) that’s what a maturebuck, as soon as i looked up, i knew that was a mature buck before i could even seehim. matt: (whispering) (inaudible) …and i said,“oh, my gosh.†grant: (whispering) before i even saw him,i saw that chest and said, “man, that’s a good deer.†grant: (whispering) 132. handy’s in the house, folks. probably 400 yards from where he found theshed.
first time i’ve seen handy in person. unless i saw him as a button buck or something. grant: to our surprise, as the afternoon progressed,a few other bucks entered the plot, including another hit lister we call head turner. grant: (whispering) we’re losing light quickly,but it’s been an incredible afternoon. we got handy – our number one hit list buck- about 115 yards that way. one four year-old we call head turner. a couple good three year-olds down here. think we’ve seen eight or ten does and fawns.
so, incredible afternoon. grant: (whispering) hopefully, something willclose the distance soon. but if not, we’re gonna have adam come,clear the field with the yamaha so we’re not alerting deer to any danger associatedwith the stand. grant: even though neither buck came withinrange, we put together another piece of the handy puzzle. and i believe we’re putting enough piecestogether that we’ll be able to make a great picture soon. announcer: growingdeer is brought to you bybass pro shops.
also by reconyx, trophy rock, eagle seed,nikon, winchester, dead down wind, antler dirt, lacrosse footwear, bloodsport arrows,flatwood natives, morrell targets, caldwell, hook’s custom calls, montana decoys, summittreestands, drake non-typical clothing, howes lubricator, genesis no-till drill, yamaha,fourth arrow, g5 broadheads, prime bows, and redneck hunting blinds. glen: that’s a good – that’ll be goodand tender. grant: umm-hmm. that’s a good one, pop. glen: i like good and tender meat.
grant: (inaudible) grant: as many of you know, my father wasdiagnosed with a form of serious cancer about a year ago. there were more than 40 masses of cancer foundin his chest and abdomen. grant: after many months of prayer and severalbouts of chemotherapy, a recent ct scan didn’t find any sign of the cancer in my dad. my dad is cancer free. what a huge blessing. and i want to take time to personally thankall of the growingdeer viewers that prayed
intentionally for my dad. grant: throughout that entire tough seasonin my dad’s life, i maintained faith that he would get healed and we would hunt again. grant: it seemed fitting that on my dad’s86th birthday, he felt able to join me on a hunt. dad, matt and i selected a redneck bale blindon the edge of a food plot we call gobbler knob. a reconyx camera we were using to monitorthat food plot showed a pretty good pattern of deer and turkey using that plot duringthe afternoons.
glen: (quietly) 86 years old. i love to hunt. my boy’s good enough to let me come downhere and hunt with him. i really enjoy it. i love to hunt, fish. i look forward to every year. (inaudible) i’m gonna try. thank you for everything, son. grant: (quietly) and today is my dad’s birthday.
he’s 86 today and the first time he’sreally felt good about going hunting after his chemotherapy treatment. doctor says he’s cancer free, so that’sa huge blessing. want to thank all the growingdeer family forpraying for my dad ‘cause here we sit at 86 years old in a blind, getting ready toget some venison and take it home. grant: of course, dad had a green light totag anything he wanted. he had an archery deer and turkey tags inhis pocket, but our main mission was to enjoy the hunt. grant: not long into the hunt, a flock oflongbeards made their way down the road and
entered the plot. it appeared these turkeys were gonna driftinto range as they continued feeding through the plot. and dad was rock solid on the caldwell fieldpod. if he had to hold the crossbow up all thattime, i doubt anyone could make the shot. but the fieldpod was saving the day. grant: before the turkeys got in range, mattspotted movement out the left window. grant: (whispering) that’s a six-pointer. you can certainly shoot it if you want, dad.
unknown: (inaudible) grant: (whispering) it’s okay… grant: antlers appeared on the edge of theplot and now dad had to make a decision. which tag was he going to try and fill? grant: this buck makes his way into the plotand instantly starts feeding. but he’s out of range. grant: (whispering) (inaudible) grant: as the buck continues feeding towardsthe center of the plot, i know dad’s crossbow is dialed in at 40 yards and i’m confidenthe can make the shot.
grant: after watching this buck long enoughand knowing dad’s not been able to hunt for a long time, i knew his trigger fingerwas itching for an opportunity. glen: (whispering) 40 (inaudible). grant: dad settled the third reticle of thenikon crossbow scope on the buck’s vitals and let the bloodsport fly. (whispering) (inaudible) grant: you got him. you got him, you got him. grant: even though the buck reacted to thenoise of the crossbow, i was confident in
the shot placement and knew there would bea buck at the end of the trail. grant: (whispering) you made a good shot. you made a good shot. glen: (quietly) thank you, son. grant: (quietly) you did great; that’s agreat shot. that’s your first deer with a crossbow. how’d you like that? glen: (quietly) that’s – man, that’slike shooting a rifle. grant: (quietly) bunch of big gobblers.
glen: (quietly) ah huh. i was tempted to shoot this big’un. he had a ten inch beard right there. grant: (quietly) well, you’ve got a shotgunturkey tag, too. you can come back here with your shotgun. glen: (quietly) oh yeah? if you can get your mother to let me come. grant: (quietly) you know she’ll let youcome. grant: matt was also confident the buck didn’tmake it far out of the plot.
so we set back in the blind; enjoyed talkingabout the hunt and just reliving the moment before we slid out of the blind and took upthe trail. glen: (quietly) that’s what carried me through. all them prayers and all them watching overme and everything. i knew i was meant to hunt again. i’m lucky to have a good wife that willstay with me on my hunting. has for 67 years and it’s – that’s alla man can ask for. she wants me to try to hunt and that’s whati needed. grant: (quietly) umm-hmm.
all right. matt and i are gonna get out of the blindand go find your buck. glen: (quietly) all right. you're ready to go look for it? grant: (quietly) yeah. we’ll leave you here. pretty rocky, pretty tough walking out there. and we’ll go find your buck and drag himback for you to see him. okay?
glen: (quietly) alright. grant: i don't know if you can get the fulldetail, but that’s like two inches or more. i’m feeling the shoulder and that baby is– that baby’s shattered. grant: oh, yeah. that’s the end of the havoc right there,folks. drilled through at 44 yards. of course, blood all over here. let’s see. but that arrow is stuck in the off shoulder.
i mean, like, it’s not coming out easy. and i don’t want to unscrew the broadhead‘cause i don’t want to get cut cleaning it. grant: it’s not the buck. aww that was cool watching the hunt. it’s that he fought through it; never gaveup on those tough days. i remember one night in icu. i didn’t, i didn’t think he’d ever comehome – let alone hunt again. that was a really tough 48 hours.
grant: alright. let’s get out of here while we’ve gotlight. grant: wow. what another great story for the havoc. this arrow traveled through most of the bodycavity and penetrated all the way through the off shoulder. grant: see this right here? glen: yeah. grant: that’s where your broadhead was stickingout the shoulder on the far side.
glen: you're kidding. well, if he didn’t make it but 50 yards,i’ve seen a lot of people, uh, deer, run with a bullet in ‘em that far. grant: oh yeah. farther than that. grant: a lot of folks talk about hunter recruitment. here’s a great example of hunter recruitment. i’m 55 and when i was six years old, mydad took me on my first deer hunt. we’ve hunted together ever since.
now, it’s time for me to take dad hunting. who can you help hunt this year? who can you help enjoy creation? grant: this is more than a birthday hunt withmy dad. it’s a celebration of life. we share this hunt as a form of encouragementto others that may be facing a serious illness. here’s a testimony of a man with strongfaith, the prayers of his family and many friends and a strong will to survive – beatingcancer. grant: i want to personally thank all thegrowingdeer viewers that have reached out
to us and said they're thinking about or prayingfor my dad. you’ve truly blessed our family. grant: it’s gonna be good for you to shootanother deer with. grant: just a few days after dad was on theboard, matt was up to bat. matt: one evening, daniel and i selected anew set of summit stands hung on the east side of tracy’s field. matt: (whispering) well, it’s october 20th. daniel and i are in the tree tonight. had a cold front move through yesterday.
temperatures have dropped about ten/twelvedegrees since yesterday so it’s a great time for deer movement. we’re excited. matt: (whispering) we’re overlooking tracy’sfield plot. we’re in the eagle seed broadside mix. deer are really hammering the radishes. so, i’m hopeful they’ll come out tonightand feed. matt: well, just like clockwork, about anhour before dark, the first deer entered the plot.
this doe was head down and feeding heavilyon the broadside as she quickly made her way across matt: (whispering) you still good? daniel: (whispering) yeah. matt: due to the angle of the camera, danielwas telling me i needed to take the shot. i ranged this doe at 46 yards and read herbody language. i didn’t anticipate her to drop much, buti drew back the prime and settled in. matt: the shot was true; it looked like thehavoc did its job and punched through both shoulders even at that distance.
matt: (whispering) i think that’s one forthe freezer. matt: although no other does came into rangeafter this, we did notice a few young bucks hanging around a persimmon tree looking forthe fresh fruit. matt: (whispering) doe. matt: near the end of the hunt, we enjoyedthe sound of clashing antlers and got to watch a great sparring match. matt: well, we’re right where the doe enteredthe woods. we’ve already got some blood. we’re gonna take the trail; hopefully shewon't be far.
matt: right there. daniel: yeah. matt: there. come right through here. matt: i smell it. i can smell it here, here, here. beautiful. touch. put through the shoulder.
interesting to see what the opposite sidelooks like here. ready? gosh, he’s a big one. can you see that? matt: that is a havoc story for you rightthere. worked out perfect. one more for the freezer. gets the count up to seven, eight - somethinglike that for the proving grounds this year. we’ve got a lot more to go.
as you can tell, there’s a lot of deer here. so, uh, let’s get her back to the shop,clean her up. that’s another one for the freezer. matt: the havoc, no doubt, proved deadly onthis one. (inaudible) grant: with the weatherman calling for lowsin the 30s, adam and i put on another layer and we’re ready to go to the stand. grant: we had noticed heavy browse in a plotwe call big cave. and based on the amount of feeding pressurein that area and that the night had been the
coldest so far this season, we were excitedto see what came and fed during the morning. grant: we were still unpacking our gear whenwe noticed a first doe in the plot. grant: we watched deer in the plot throughoutthe morning and even heard a few grunts off in the timber. grant: these deer eventually worked theirway out of the field and never came within range. grant: about mid-morning, we had a surprise. two deer approached from our downwind sideand were feeding on the persimmon trees about 20 yards away.
grant: i didn’t waste any time and preparedto launch a bloodsport. grant: (whispering) thank you, lord. grant: (whispering) about 8:30. some persimmons right over here and not manyacorns this year, so deer are really gonna feed on persimmons hard. had a mature doe come in. shot looked a little bit low and kind of funky,so we’re not exactly sure what happened, but we heard her run this way. we’re gonna hunt another hour or so thentake up the trail.
grant: well, we got down out of the tree andsee scuff marks where she turned and i could see blood right here. so, we’re gonna take up the trail, see whereshe goes. of course, she ran right through the thickeststuff. adam and i could hear. it sounded like she made it maybe to the edgeof the ridge. so, we’ll find out. grant: a lot of blood here. i mean, just a lot of blood.
no arrow. grant: i did not make the perfect shot. as much as i hate to admit that. but i want to tell you – that’s a doggonebucket full of blood right there. grant: this hunt is a perfect reminder ofthe attractiveness of fruit, and in this case – persimmons, to deer at certain times ofyear. given that deer are obviously attracted tofruit, it’s easy to see the advantages of strategically planting fruit trees throughoutyour hunting area. even though these were wild growing persimmontrees, it’s obvious why we’re such a fan
of creating tree plots. grant: big ole nanny. oh my gosh – yeah. right through the heart. look at that. grant: there was another surprise at the endof this trail. holy mackerel. look how tough that arrow is. you see that?
look at that? anything would – look at that. grant: i knew, i knew that was gonna slapout there. woo hoo. baby, that, that was a knuckle buster rightthere. man, that is tough. i mean, can you believe that? grant: i rolled the doe over and that arrowwas bent around it – like conforming to the body.
i thought, “my gosh. did that broadhead cut a crease?†and i realized it was the arrow and it didn’teven break the arrow. grant: we didn’t know it or i would havecaptured that better. but she had fallen over and the arrow wasliterally bent around her. i mean, bent around her. you probably saw it slap my hand when it comeout. grant: and the arrow was great. i broke the nock on a rock, but the arrowwas great.
and i actually number all my arrows when ifirst get ‘em, you know, and everything. so, uh, adam has an arrow this year he’salready killed three does with. we kinda have a little internal contest. who can kill the most deer with the same arrow? grant: i’m gonna clean this up, put a newnock in it, put it in the quiver, have it out this afternoon. grant: like my fifth grade teacher rappingyou on the knuckles if you didn’t say, “yes, ma’am.†(laughter)
grant: pro staffer aaron kicklighter has beenpreparing for deer season all summer long. and recently, he headed into a stand hopingto reap the rewards. grant: he was overlooking a field where hehad planted eagle seed soybeans earlier this summer and more recently planted eagle’sbroadside blend in front of his stand. aaron was in pursuit of a buck he called tips. but after reviewing his trail camera imagesfrom that field the night before, he realized a new 10-pointer had also moved into the area. grant: there was a bedding area to his leftand a chunk of big timber with acorns to his right.
a perfect transition zone. grant: the morning aaron hunted, the temperatureswere in the 40s and he was confident tips or the new 10-pointer would be passing throughthe area. grant: overlooking this transition zone, itdidn’t take him long to spot the first deer. grant: it’s the new 10-pointer. and the does he’s following are headed rightfor aaron’s stand. grant: in addition to multi-tasking everythingelse, aaron has the presence of mind to milk the footage and wait for this buck to presentthe perfect shot. aaron: (whispering) oh, come on, come on.
yes! oh, just smoked a big ten. that’s impressive, aaron. even under the pressure of seeing a good buck,he had everything under control to keep the buck in frame and then make a great shot. aaron’s brother joins him and it’s timeto take up the trail. aaron: it’s been about an hour since i shotthat deer. i went back and my brother’s gonna helpme film recovery. uh, i looked at the footage.
i hit him in the front shoulder there - rightbehind it. but it went, went in good – good penetrationso he should be fine. we’re gonna look for blood up here and thenwe’ll go from there. aaron: alright. just crossed the fence and i can see my standright there and i can see the white belly of a big ole buck right there. aaron: well, here’s what the, uh, prizeat the end of a very short blood trail. the ole g5 havoc did him in. i could not be happier.
i came out this morning – actually lookingfor a deer i call tips. i’ve been getting a lot of pictures of himon a scrape last week. this deer i got pictures of, uh, two nightsago – first time i got pictures of him. but i knew right away he goes on the hit listand, uh, i mean, could not be happier. i didn’t expect to see him this morning,but you never know. so, i got here and, uh, probably the bestbrow tines i’ve ever killed on a deer for sure. them are – those are nice, so, good buck. like i say, a week away from having a baby,so this will give me a little free time and
just blessings seem to pile up on me. i don't know. carl: i would help you, but you said neverstop filming, so i’m doing my job. grant: great job on self-filming the huntand making the shot, aaron. glad to have you on the pro staff. grant: next week, adam’s got a great storyto tell. it’s a story about a homegrown mature ozarkbuck on his family farm. tune in ‘cause you won't want to miss thisincredible hunt. grant: with so many hunts going on this timeof year, be sure to check out the clips page
at growingdeer.com and stay tuned to what’sgoing on during the week. grant: hunting here at the proving groundsis truly a family tradition. i got to take my 86 year-old dad hunting. that’s one generation. i’m in the blind and my 18 year-old daughter,raleigh, taking pictures after the hunt. three generations of woods enjoying the hunt. grant: you know what’s more important? it’s the bond that hold us all together. and that bond is the creator.
this week, i hope you take time with yourfamily to get outside and enjoy creation and more importantly, be the leader and sharethe creator with your family. thanks for watching growingdeer.
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